Souplantation E. coli Litigation
In March and April of 2007, the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA) learned that 78 individuals who had eaten at the Foothill Ranch Souplantation restaurant in Lake Forest, California, had become ill with symptoms of E. coli infection within days of eating there. Fourteen cases were confirmed positive for E. coli O157:H7.Although OCHCA conducted a thorough investigation into the outbreak, the agency was not able to determine how E. coli O157:H7 was introduced to Souplantation. Investigators found that the E. coli outbreak could have originated through a contaminated food source and subsequent cross-contamination through inadequate food handling practices, or through an infected employee.
Marler Clark represented an elderly woman who became ill with E. coli and survived a lengthy hospitalization after eating at Souplantation in a claim against the restaurant which was resolved in early 2008. The firm represents an another client in a claim against Souplantation that has not yet been resolved.
